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A close evaluation of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species reveals that both works have very strong similarities. Walden was published five years before The Origin of Species. Therefore, it can be assumed that Darwin used Thoreau’s postulations as a benchmark while writing his own book. It is difficult to confirm whether Darwin had the opportunity of reading Walden before he wrote his famous book or not. However, the similarities appear as if they were not just random. Although Darwin may have been unaware of Walden and his works during the time he was writing Origin of Species, the striking similarities in both writers’ knowledge of Mother Nature and how she regulates the existence of various organisms is rather unbelievable.
In one way or the other, both Darwin and Thoreau certainly pondered over the existence of the similarities among human beings. Darwin’s studies were concerned with the biological association between human beings and other organisms. He postulated that most of the organisms have originated from the same ancestry but evolve over time to become a uniquely different species (Kutschera 82). Darwin also provided details about the evolution of organisms over time to become what they are today. In the similar manner, Thoreau examined the emotional relationship that connects human beings and other species. He highlighted the way human beings fit within a natural environment and their survival mechanisms to the present day. He also examined how humanity should respond in order to continue surviving in a given environment (Thoreau 2).
Before Thoreau could start working on Walden, he accessed Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle. He had the opportunity to go through the content of the book before he could start writing his own. Just before Thoreau died, it was proved that he took a lot of time reading the Origin of Species. This is an indication that Thoreau had a special liking towards the works of Darwin. Perhaps, he borrowed some arguments from the book that he later used in Walden. Even though the Origin of Species and Voyage of the Beagle were two different books, it can be said that the authors had the same perception about life. For the same reason, readers may expect various relations in ideas and arguments. Life in the voyage was relatively simple. On the other hand, Thoreau’s book is an advocate of simplistic style. In his book, the Origin of Species, Darwin postulated that life started from “simple” forms to more complex ones. This, therefore, indicates the similarity in the themes of the three books i.e. ‘simplicity’.
Origin of Species and Walden were written with a gap of 5 years in between. There is no evidence whether Darwin wrote the book before reading Walden or not. Nevertheless, it looks like a coincidence that Thoreau was the first American to support Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection and the origin of species. People believe that Thoreau was inspired by Darwin’s book and decided to start the Concord Museum. He used the principles from the book to come up with the idea of Concord.
Both Darwin and Thoreau were confrontationists. Thoreau’s ideas and methodologies were against the belief of the society. His beliefs in life and survival were questioned and contradicted by many scholars. However, it did not stop him. Darwin, on the other hand, went against the paradigm of scientific research (Kutschera 69). His defiance almost led him to being kicked out of the scientists association. In both the cases, the discussed authors did not demonstrate a relent attitude. Instead, they proceeded with what they believed in despite of the external influences. Above all, both of them can be rightfully regarded as evolutionary scientists. Their laws did not only apply to the existence of fauna and flora, but went deep into examining their origin.
Works Sited
Thoreau, Henry David, and Jeffrey S. Cramer. Walden. Yale University Press, 2006.
Kutschera, Ulrich. "Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species, directional selection, and the evolutionary sciences today." Naturwissenschaften 96.11 (2009): 1247-1263.
All the Evidence must be from the book and the spelling and grammar must be fixed
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